NY GOP Chairman Calls on Silver to Step Down

The head of the state Republican Party has called on the Legislature’s most powerful Democrat to step down for his role in a sexual harassment settlement that include public funds.

Ed Cox, the GOP chairman, said Silver’s actions in the scandal surrounding longtime Assemblyman Vito Lopez “demonstrated a manifest disregard for the wellbeing and safety of female Assembly staff members.”

Specifically, Cox blasts Silver for approving a six-figure settlement with two of Lopez’ accusers and not referring them to the Assembly Ethics Committee. (Silver later referred two other complaints to the ethics committee, and Lopez was censured and stripped of his seniority.

“Enough is enough,” Cox said in a statement. “The line must be drawn here. For the sake of female officials and staffers in the Assembly – and indeed for the sake of all New Yorkers – Sheldon Silver must step down as Speaker of the New York State Assembly.”

At last week’s Republican National Convention, Cox called for a special investigator to probe the Lopez situation. Since then, Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan has been appointed to investigate claims against the Brooklyn lawmaker.

“A judge appointed special prosecutor will determine if criminal liability attaches to actions approved by the Speaker, but we don’t need a special prosecutor to rule on the ethics of this transaction.

“Faced with a member of his caucus who had on multiple occasions sexually harassed female staff members, Speaker Silver neglected to refer the matter to the Assembly Ethics Committee and instead took an active role in covering up the abuse, including paying over $100,000 of taxpayer money to the victim, who did not request confidentiality.

“Silver’s actions were unethical and wholly unbecoming of a member of the New York State Assembly, let alone its Speaker.

“Sheldon Silver’s history of covering up sex abuse in the Democratic Assembly caucus includes a $500,000 settlement in 2004 for sexual misconduct by Silver’s Chief Counsel and an $80,000 settlement in 1992 for similar charges against another Democratic Assemblyman.

“As Speaker, Sheldon Silver has allowed a culture of abuse to permeate the Democratic Assembly caucus and has demonstrated a manifest disregard for the wellbeing and safety of female Assembly staff members.

“Additionally, the Speaker’s use of public money to settle these claims is questionable at best, and may in and of itself be illegal.

“Enough is enough. The line must be drawn here. For the sake of female officials and staffers in the Assembly – and indeed for the sake of all New Yorkers – Sheldon Silver must step down as Speaker of the New York State Assembly.”